Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers used his Monday appearance on ESPN's «The Pat McAfee Show» to criticize the network for ignoring the scandal surrounding former reporter Dianna Russini and New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, while raising broader questions about journalistic standards in NFL media.
Rodgers spoke during a live taping at Steelers training camp after host Pat McAfee asked about his mindset heading into what the quarterback has suggested may be his final NFL season. Instead of delivering a routine answer, Rodgers began by mocking Dr. Anthony Fauci, repeating «I'll plead the Fifth,» an apparent reference to the former White House COVID adviser's Senate hearing last week, where he invoked the Fifth Amendment 111 times. Rodgers then pivoted to ESPN and asked why the network had not addressed the Russini-Vrabel situation.
«Look at what the network's doing. You have literally an individual that maybe used to work at ESPN, that covers our league at the highest level, and there's a major scandal,» Rodgers said. «And it's just like nobody can f---ing talk about it? Like, what are we doing here?»
When one of McAfee's co-hosts noted that Rodgers should understand how personal lives are meant to remain private, he pushed back. «I understand, but if it's affecting certain things – if there's leaks going on, there's tampering going on,» he said. He went on to suggest that people in such positions can influence league awards, recalling his 2021 MVP vote: «Remember when I won MVP in 2021, and that bum in Chicago – yeah, that's real life. How are we allowing these people to have an impact?»
The Russini-Vrabel scandal emerged this offseason after photos of the pair hugging and holding hands at a private resort in Sedona, Arizona, went viral. Russini initially downplayed the images, saying «reporters interact with sources away from stadiums and other venues,» but later resigned from The Athletic. The New York Post also published photographs, dated March 11, 2020, showing the two kissing at a bar in New York City. «They were kissing, and they were all over each other,» one eyewitness told the outlet. «He had a ring on.»
Vrabel left the Patriots during the NFL Draft and entered counseling as details of the relationship unfolded. He later returned to the team and said he had difficult conversations with his family and spoke with players about the situation. Russini's resignation marked one of the most prominent media exits of the NFL offseason.
Rodgers's frustration with Russini predates the current controversy. During his turbulent tenure with the New York Jets, she was active in reporting on the team's struggles and on Rodgers's role in the turmoil. In 2024, The Athletic reported that Rodgers wanted to continue playing beyond that season but not for the Jets. Rodgers called the story «100% false» on McAfee's show and used the moment to criticize what he described as a decline in media standards.
«There is not a lot of journalistic integrity anymore, I don't think,» Rodgers said, prompting McAfee to reply, «Standards.» Rodgers responded, «The standards are what they are.» He added that much of what had been written about him was «limited in its truth, and questionable in its content,» saying it seemed as if some articles published the previous year were intended to ruin people's lives.
Rodgers also pushed back on the idea that members of his inner circle leaked information about the Jets. «I don't have anybody, I don't believe, that is in my inner circle that would spend any time talking to a reporter about other people's s---, or trying to slam 'em, or trying to protect themselves,» he said. He described the business as one built on self-protection, adding: «Unfortunately, this business has turned into a lot of cover your a--... people trying to cover their a--, so they gotta have a fall guy. It was [former Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel] Hackett, it was [former Jets head coach Robert] Saleh, it was [former Jets general manager Joe] Douglas, then it's me.»
Rodgers's relationship with high-profile NFL reporters has been tense for years. In 2023, while the football world waited for his decision on whether he would retire after a darkness retreat, he told ESPN's Adam Schefter to «lose my number.» On Monday, he said Russini had also sent him a message at the time, but he chose not to respond, suggesting he would have given her the same answer he gave Schefter.
Russini said in 2025 on the «Scoop City» podcast that the Jets had given Rodgers an ultimatum that he would stop doing interviews on McAfee's show. That arrangement never materialized, and Rodgers continues to appear regularly on the program.